Fasser Family Blog

We just returned from another wonderful trip to Mazama for Thanksgiving. Michelle and Jackson went out on Monday morning while Lindsay and I came out after school/work on Tuesday. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and Jackson spent the whole day making snowmen. We had a bunch of fun in the snow including snow ball fights, snow men, minor sledding and walks in the crunchie white stuff.

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at Stewart and Phil Dietz’s place (because SHE has a dishwasher not named Scott) and were joined by Bernerd and Evaline Waltham and their two young children. We had a wonderful time and had the opportunity to re-interate how lucky we are and how thankful we are to have health, happiness and love.

We got in some projects around the cabin including re-stocking wood, cleaning up the wood storage area, moving the hot water heater inside and patching up some holes. I was able to get in some fishing on the lower Methow and we spent a fun night in Winthrop for the tree lighting and fireworks – which were amazing!

As Michelle said while we were there “I already can’t wait to come back”.

Michelle and I spent a wonderful weekend with her dad’s side of the family down in Monterrey, CA for her cousin’s wedding. The weather was fantastic, the venue beautiful and the company was wonderful. We had a blast. Michelle and I were fortunate enough to be invited to the rehearsal dinner at a historic building/restaurant called Stokes. We sat next to Keet’s Mother’s Twin Brother Bill and his wife Susan and just had a blast. Lots of great food, wine and conversation about their life in Japan, traveling and kids.

The wedding on the following day was in the Memory Garden near the Portola Hotel which was an open atrium with four massive magnolia trees the provided cover and a hanging opportunity for the lights. The service was touching, Erica and Keet were amazing and we got to spend time with our favorite relatives from Santa Cruz including Erica’s Dad and Step-Mom (Ron & Jill Lindsay).

The day after, we had the chance to visit Keet’s parents house in Carmel Valley and thank them for a lovely weekend. The pictures below only tell a portion of the story of the weekend, but wanted to get them online to share.

For Lindsay’s 12th birthday, we spent a great weekend at Dabob Bay on a camp spot owned by some other parents at West Woodland Elementary school. The property had an almost finished bunk house, picnic table, composting toilet, running water and a shed – it was lovely. Lindsay invited here closest friends from school and the neighborhood. Jackson brought his buddy Findley while Michelle and I brought my mom . The weather was perfect, the girls were awesome, Jackson & Findley had a blast while Michelle, Barbara and I had a blast getting to know Lindsay’s school pals better.

The weekend was pretty jammed packed with meals, clamming, swimming in the bay, swinging on the rope swing, swinging on the hammock, deep conversations, playing with dogs and fire building. Tess has some pictures of the clam digging and mud fight so we’ll post those when we get them, otherwise – enjoy!

Brad Lenz and I took some videos of us and the kids zip lining in the jungles of Salulita. My first time posting some YouTube uploaded videos, but check it out and enjoy.

The Fasser Family had a great time in Puerto Vallarta over spring break. Technically we were in Nuevo Vallarta which is about 20 minutes North of PV towards Buceria and Salulita. Nuevo Vallarta is a new hotel development region with a great beach and within walking distance to Buceria which is a small town, fishing village with some great restaurants.

Some highlights of the trip included:
- Great weather (a little windy in the afternoon)
- Swimming with the Dolphins
- Nice infinity pool at our hotel
- Walking out of the hotel right on to the beach
- The Lenz’s coming down and hanging with us
- Spending a night in Puerto Vallarta with Brenda and Verner O’Quin (I used to work with Brenda)
- Visiting Ylapas and snorkeling
- Spending some wonderful evenings in Bucerias eating and shopping
- Spending a day in Salulita surfing, sunning and eating
- Going zip lining with Brad, Avery and Lindsay

Here are some pictures from the trip – enjoy!

We just returned from the 14th annual Boyz Hike and what a doozy this was. I’ve been to Kauai a few times, but seeing the Island from an unspoiled and undeveloped perspective was truely amazing. The Northshore of Kauai (out past Hanalai Bay) is lush, varied, breathtaking, sunny and at time – steep .  Kalalau Beach is one of the most beautiful places on the planet – it’s got to be.  The group included Greg Latimer (organizer – thanks Greg!), Eric Plateau (in from Chicago), John Dossett (Portland), Will Shortt (Eugene), John Gerberding, Dave Dawson, Ralph Murray and Myself (Seattle). Highlights of the trip include:

• Direct flight to Lihue from Seattle – Fly Alaska Airlines!
• Dinner at Duke’s and Playing Pool at NaWiliWili Tavern.
• Snorkeling around Poipu.
• Hike around Waimea Canyon – Mark Twain called this the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific”. Stunning.
• Dave getting stuck with Urchin Needles Saturday Afternoon while having a sunset snorkel.
• 11 Mile Hike into Kalalau Beach and jumping into the surf and fresh water fall.
• Fresh water pool in Cave on beach.
• Beach volleyball and beach frisbee golf including Eric’s hole in one on the cave/water hole.
• Hiking up to Big Pool for swimming (killer day hike/trail!).
• Meeting local hippies.
• Big stars at night. With no ambient light, the stars were very bright and distinct.
• Getting rained on and not caring because we were covered and warm by the fire.
• Spending quality time with friends from cities both near and far.

Below are my photos from the trip. I can’t wait to see everyone else’s. Click on the photos for a bigger version of the slideshow.

What a sad day it was to leave Vernazza. We had such a lovely time and enjoyed the sun, food and people immensely. Packing up was a pain and hauling all of those bags down the long stairs was no fun. We had a nice breakfast and then a short train ride to La Spezia where Michelle and I ventured out to hunt down some lunch for the clan. Found a great kabob/gyro house and some yummy boxes of wine. Then a four hour train ride to Rome where Lindsay and I engaged in a wicked Cribbage battle royale.

In Rome, we found a nice old man to carry our bags to the hotel (OK, on a big hand truck and he was short but BEEFY). Stayed at the Hotel Torino again and went to our favorite Sardinian restaurant for our last meal in Italy. We had a wonderful time with Adriana, two new friends from Verona, lots of Mirto and a lovely walk back to the hotel. Quite the wind down from lots of travel and a wonderful trip.

Michelle and I woke up early because we wanted to hike to Corniglia in the morning. It is a shorter hike than from Monterosso, but still beautiful and worth the trip. Once we had a bit of breakfast, we were off.

The first part of the hike was quite steep as we climbed up and out of Vernazza. We passed a restaurant on the trail at the top of Vernazza and made a mental note to check it out later for dinner. The hike was lovely, but not near as breathtaking as the Monterosso to Vernazza segment. The hike took about an hour and the approach to Corniglia was beautiful. The town sits high up on the cliff (365 steps down to the water) and lacked a beach – just a boat launch.

Michelle and I had a nice snack in Corniglia and she took the train backto Vernazza while I kept going to Manarola. There were lots of stairs heading down to the train level and then a long flat walk along the water to the next village. Again, a nice approach but lots of tourists and an easy hike. There were a couple of access points to the water fromt the village, but still very steep and no beach at all – just rocks.

Next stop was Riomaggiorre which was an interesting town. Bigger than Manarolo and Corniglia with a beautiful, large mural and a tunnel with a mosaic along the wall. There was also a tunnel and stairs that go down to the water (again, no beach) but you can go diving, rent a boat etc. I liked Riomaggiore, but not as much as Vernazza.

When I returned to Vernazza, I ran into the family having lunch at the Blue Marlin cafe – great food right on the main road in Vernazza. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, got cleaned up and then headed to the restaurant that we spied earlier “El Torro”. It was a bit of a hike up and we got there about 7:10pm, but they weren’t open yet! We waited about 20 minutes and took pics then they let us in. An incredible view of Vernazza and the water. We had two types of lasagna, a yummy octopus salad, crawfish and LOTS of tomatos & pasta. Simple, limited menu but lovely.

After dinner, the kids played at the playground for a while and then we went down to the Harbor for a night cap on our last night in Cinque Terra. We found a bar that had Mirto! and proceeded to drink the place dry. We also had the good fortune to be in the middle of a birthday party in which the Gypsy Queens (www.gypsyqueens.com) were playing for a woman’s 60th birthday. What a hoot! They  played Beattles, Beachboys, Van Morrison, Italian songs, everything! They were a ton of fun and it was a brilliant ending to a great stay in Vernazza.

Day 14 was one of my favorites of the entire trip. I was up early and wanted to explore an idea that Michelle had mentioned “wouldn’t it be great to rent a boat and cruise around to the different villages?”. After my morning cash withdrawal and coffee I inquired about boat rentals from the guys in harbor. He had an open bow, 5 person motor boat available for a four hour cruise for 80 Euros plus gas – done!

We left the harbor around 11:30am after grabbing lunch items, swimsuits and cameras for a four hour cruise. There is no motoring in the harbor so the guy who rented us the boat had to row us out. When his partner came to pick him up, he rammed the motor of our boat and put a big gash in the casing! How italian! Anyhow, no harm and we were off cruising South towards Corniglia, Mannarolo and Riomaggiore. These towns were all built high off the water into the cliffs so there was no opportunity to land for wine (poor Michelle). We found a cove past Riomaggiore and pulled in for some swimming and lunch. Afterwards, we headed North past Vernazza to Monterosso and then all the way to Levanto. Levanto seemed like a nice large town with a big beach that was part sand and part gravel. We cruised back in style by punching the gas and doing some ocean donuts – the kids loved it.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was cruising back to Vernazza with one hand on the boat wheel, one hand around Michelle’s shoulders, the kids on the bow bouncing up and down to the waves and Shirey chill-axing in the back seat. Great day.

Another early morning for me for cash and coffee. Michelle came with me and we checked out a cafe I saw the day before called Il Pirata – a Sicilian bakery/cafe with incredible ricotta pastries and smoothies. We made reservations to come for dinner later.

We went to Monterosso and spent the day at the beach there. The beach was made of small, but annoying stones and was hot to the feet. The water was beautifully clear and a wonderful temperature but the people managing the first set of chairs we went to were a pain in the ass. We didn’t get what we wanted, got our money back and went to a different set of chairs which was much more to our liking.

At the end of the day, Michelle and I hiked the ~2 miles or so back to Vernazza along the Cinque Terra trail. It was still very hot and a major climb up stairs to reach altitude. I guess we gained 1,500 – 2,000 feet in a pretty short time (see the pictures). This was the hardest stretch of the trail between the five towns on the coast due to length and vertical climb. However, it was also the most beautiful with incredible vistas, structures and a lemonade stand in the middle run by the grower of the lemons – Fantastic!

Dinner was as Il Pirata and was magnificent in it’s simplicity and flavor. Another winner!